Words for the Wise

S. Arthur T.

Description

American author Timothy Shaw Arthur gained widespread acclaim in the nineteenth century by penning a series of stories with strong moral themes. The collection Words for the Wise brings together a number of these simple, parable-like tales on topics ranging from money management to romantic entanglements.

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776586219
• Langue: English

Extrait

WORDS FOR THE WISE
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T. S. ARTHUR
 
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Words for the Wise First published in 1851 Epub ISBN 978-1-77658-621-9 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77658-622-6 © 2014 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Preface The Poor Debtor The Sunday Christian I Knew How it Would Be Jacob Jones;Or, the Man Who Couldn't Get Along in the World Starting a Newspaper - An Experience of Mr. John Jones The Way of Transgressors Just Going to Do It Making Haste to Be Rich Let Her Pout it Out "A Fine, Generous Fellow" Taking it for Granted Love and Law
Preface
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THE title of this book—"WORDS FOR THE WISE"—is too comprehensive toneed explanation. May the lessons it teaches be "sufficient" aswarnings, incentives and examples, to hundreds and thousands who readthem.
The Poor Debtor
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"THERE is one honest man in the world, I am happy to say," remarked arich merchant, named Petron, to a friend who happened to call in uponhim.
"Is there, indeed! I am glad to find you have made a discovery of thefact. Who is the individual entitled to the honourable distinction?"
"You know Moale, the tailor?"
"Yes. Poor fellow! he's been under the weather for a long time."
"I know. But he's an honest man for all that."
"I never doubted his being honest, Mr. Petron."
"I have reason to know that he is. But I once thought differently. Whenhe was broken up in business some years ago, he owed me a little bill,which I tried to get out of him as hard as any one ever did try for hisown. But I dunned and dunned him until weary, and then, giving him upas a bad case, passed the trifle that he owed me to account of profitand loss. He has crossed my path a few times since; but, as I didn'tfeel toward him as I could wish to feel toward all men, I treated himwith marked coldness. I am sorry for having done so, for it now appearsthat I judged him too severely. This morning he called in of his ownfree will, and paid me down the old account. He didn't say any thingabout interest, nor did I, though I am entitled to, and ought to havereceived it. But, as long as he came forward of his own accord andsettled his bill, after I had given up all hope of ever receiving it, Ithought I might afford to be a little generous and not say any thingabout the interest; and so I gave him a receipt in full. Didn't I doright?"
"In what respect?" asked the friend.
"In forgiving him the interest, which I might have claimed as well asnot, and which he would, no doubt, have paid down, or brought me atsome future time."
"Oh, yes. You were right to forgive the interest," returned the friend,but in a tone and with a manner that struck the merchant as rathersingular. "No man should ever take interest on money due from anunfortunate debtor."
"Indeed! Why not?" Mr. Petron looked surprised. "Is not money alwaysworth its interest?"
"So it is said. But the poor debtor has no money upon which to make aninterest. He begins the world again with nothing but his ability towork; and, if saddled with an old debt—principal and interest—hiscase is hopeless. Suppose he owes ten thousand dollars, and, afterstruggling hard for three or four years, gets into a position that willenable him to pay off a thousand dollars a year. There is some chancefor him to get out of debt in ten years. But suppose interest has beenaccumulating at the rate of some six hundred dollars a year. His debt,instead of being ten thousand, will have increased to over twelvethousand dollars by the time he is in a condition to begin to pay offany thing; and then, instead of being able to reduce the amount athousand dollars a year, he will have to let six hundred go for theannual interest on the original debt. Four years would have to elapsebefore, under this system, he would get his debt down to where it waswhen he was broken up in business. Thus, at the end of eight years'hard struggling, he would not, really, have advanced a step out of hisdifficulties. A debt of ten thousand dollars would still be hangingover him. And if, persevering to the end, he should go on paying theinterest regularly and reducing the principal, some twenty-five yearsof his life would be spent in getting free from debt, when little overhalf that time would have been required, if his creditors had, actingfrom the commonest dictates of humanity, voluntarily released theinterest."
"That is a new view of the case, I must confess—at least new to me,"said Mr. Petron.
"It is the humane view of the case. But, looking to interest alone, itis the best view for every creditor to take. Many a man who, with alittle effort, might have cancelled, in time, the principal of a debtunfortunately standing against him, becomes disheartened at seeing itdaily growing larger through the accumulation of interest, and gives upin despair. The desire to be free from debt spurs many a man intoeffort. But make the difficulties in his way so large as to appearinsurmountable, and he will fold his hands in helpless inactivity.Thousands of dollars are lost every year in consequence of creditorsgrasping after too much, and breaking down the hope and energy of thedebtors."
"Perhaps you are right," said Mr. Petron;—"that view of the case neverpresented itself to my mind. I don't suppose, however, the interest onfifty dollars would have broken down Moale."
"There is no telling. It is the last pound, you know, that breaks thecamel's back. Five years have passed since his day of misfortune.Fifteen dollars for interest are therefore due. I have my doubts if hecould have paid you sixty-five dollars now. Indeed, I am sure he couldnot. And the thought of that as a new debt, for which he had receivedno benefit whatever, would, it is more than probable, have produced adiscouraged state of mind, and made him resolve not to pay you anything at all."
"But that wouldn't have been honest," said the merchant.
"Perhaps not, strictly speaking. To be dishonest is from a set purposeto defraud; to take from another what belongs to him; or to withholdfrom another, when ability exists to pay, what is justly his due. Youwould hardly have placed Moale in either of these positions, if, fromthe pressure of the circumstances surrounding him as a poor man and indebt, he had failed to be as active, industrious, and prudent as hewould otherwise have been. We are all apt to require too much of thepoor debtor, and to have too little sympathy with him. Let the hope ofimproving your own condition—which is the mainspring of all yourbusiness operations—be taken away, and instead, let there be only thedesire to pay off old debts through great labour and self-denial, thatmust continue for years, and imagine how differently you would thinkand feel from what you do now. Nay, more; let the debt be owed to thosewho are worth their thousands and tens of a thousands, and who are inthe enjoyment of every luxury and comfort they could desire, while yougo on paying them what you owe, by over-exertion and the denial toyourself and family of all those little luxuries and recreations whichboth so much need, and then say how deeply dyed would be thatdishonesty which would cause you, in a moment of darker and deeperdiscouragement than usual, to throw the crushing weight from yourshoulders, and resolve to bear it no longer? You must leave a man somehope in life if you would keep him active and industrious in hissphere."
Mr. Petron said nothing in reply to this; but he looked sober. Hisfriend soon after left.
The merchant, as the reader may infer from his own acknowledgment, wasone of those men whose tendency to regard only their own interests hasbecome so confirmed a habit, that they can see nothing beyond thenarrow circle of self. Upon debtors he had never looked with a particleof sympathy; and had, in all cases, exacted his own as rigidly as ifhis debtor had not been a creature of human wants and feelings. Whathad just been said, however, awakened a new thought in his mind; and,as he reflected upon the subject, he saw that there was some reason inwhat had been said, and felt half ashamed of his allusion to theinterest of the tailor's fifty-dollar debt.
Not long after, a person came into his store, and from some causementioned the name of Moale.
"He's an honest man—that I am ready to say of him," remarked Mr.Petron.
"Honest, but very poor," was replied.
"He's doing well now, I believe," said the merchant.
"He's managing to keep soul and body together, and hardly that."
"He's paying off his old debts."
"I know he is; but I blame him for injuring his health and wronging hisfamily, in order to pay a few hundred dollars to men a thousand timesbetter off in the world than he is. He brought me twenty dollars on anold debt yesterday, but I wouldn't touch it. His misfortunes had longago cancelled the obligation in my eyes. God forbid! that with enoughto spare, I should take the bread out of the mouths of a poor man'schildren."
"Is he so very poor?" asked Mr. Petron, surprised and rebuked at whathe heard.
"He has a family of six children to feed, clothe, and educate; and hehas it to do by his unassisted labour. Since he was broken up inbusiness some years ago, he has had great difficulties to contend with,and only by pinching himself and family, and depriving both of nearlyevery comfort, has he been able to reduce the old claims that have beenstanding against him. But he has shortened his own life ten yearsthereby, and has deprived his children of the benefits of education,exce